Mass Effect: Biohazard
by spart1339
Summary: Humanity has not only entered the galactic scene but their sins as well. Virus' thought gone are now appearing on different planets, the one responsible are not stopping. In an effort to combat the threat of bioterror the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, B.S.A.A. is reestablished to combat the threat. (A One-Shot story)


**A/N: After going back and replaying the RE HD remake for the PS4, this idea lodged itself in my brain and I couldn't get rid of it so I decided to write it. Like the summery said this is a one shot, so it won't be a full story. Anyway enjoy.**

* * *

When the news of alien life was announced fear was the first response in the human populace then came war when the news of Shanxi was broadcasted across Alliance space. Alien forces had taken over the colony and had no intention of giving it back. In response the Alliance launched a counter attack against the alien threat and won barely. War it seemed was inevitable as more alien ships came and attacked, four hundred thousand lives were lost in the conflict both military and civilian before peace was reached.

Then the news came that there were countless alien species beyond human borders and were governed by three people in the massive space station known as the Citadel. Wonder, fear, and resentment spread throughout the human populace like a virus. Then came the alliance with the Citadel Council, humanity would be allowed to join the galactic community as neighbors, wonder and excitement spread the humanity.

But there were those who still feared and hated the aliens for the deaths of their fellow humans and so they sought to return that pain they endured during the brief war. They captured turians, asari, salarians, anyone who could be experimented on. Virus' from the past were tested on them and the results were exceptional. The first recorded incident happened on a Council planet Mider, the T-Virus was unleashed in a city of twelve million.

Chaos ensued when the dead returned to life and began to attack the living, killing them and turning them. In response the Council dispatched a military force to contain the outbreak, a quarantine was set around the city but by then it was too late. The city was overrun by the infected and soon the quarantine failed.

 **Classified Footage**

 **Omega Clearance required to view**

 **Private Krille, Turian 110** **th** **infanty – helmet cam footage**

 **Screams could be heard in the distance along with gunshots, fires could be seen raging throughout the city. Various squads within the city called for help over the radio, some of them ended with screaming.**

" **Turn that off,"**

 **Krille turned to see his CO sitting in his chair with his head in his hands looking beaten, the comms officer turned off the radio. Turning back to the burning city Krille could understand it had been three hours since the majority of their forces went into the city in an attempt to reclaim it. Shortly after they began to receive calls for medivac and extractions, some of the squads stopped checking in. Now Krille and his squad didn't know what to do except hold their position on the bridge leading out of the city.**

 **A massive wall was erected on the bridge with a large door in the middle to keep out the infected.**

 **The sound of turian fighters flying overhead drew the attention of Krille as he looked up to see a squadron of fighter fly over the city and begin dropping incendiary bombs in an attempt to stop the infection from spreading. After the bombs fell the comms officer switched the radio back on and began calling squads for a status report but was only met with silence.**

" **Movement on the perimeter," one of the sentries yelled. Krille grabbed his rifle and began to scan the environment for any signs of movement as did everyone. Soon enough he saw a turian soldier walking towards them with his head down.**

" **Hold your fire," the CO ordered when he saw the turian soldier. "Identify yourself!" he shouted at the turian soldier who just kept walking towards them, "I said identify yourself!"**

" **Captain can't you see that he's in shock." One of the soldiers said to the Captain. Krille didn't turn around to see so he couldn't see what his Captain was thinking.**

" **And how do you know that?" Krille heard his Captain ask.**

" **I've seen soldiers in shock before. Besides he may tell us what's going on in the city."**

" **Fine, open the door." Krille the alarms blare as the large doors parted just in time as the turian soldier was twenty feet from the gates. Krille watched as their medic stepped through the gates and met the turian outside the gates.**

" **Hey, you okay?" the medic asked the turian who stopped in front of him. Slowly he raised his head allowing the medic to see his face. "Spirits," was the medic was able to say before the other turian grabbed him and bit him in the neck. The medic screamed as he fell backward pulling the other turian with him through the open door.**

" **Seal the door. Seal the door," Krille heard his Captain say over the medic's screaming. The alarms once again blared as the doors began to close.**

" **Incoming!" one of the turians on the wall yelled, Krille turned back to the bridge and saw a horde of infected coming towards them. Asari, Turians, Salarians, and even a few Quarians could be seen in the horde advancing on them.**

" **Get him off me! Get him off me!" Krille heard the medic shouting, he turned around to see the infected turian rip out the medic's throat with his teeth. The medic gurgled as he died, one of the turian shot the infected turian only for the rounds to be deflected by the armors kinetic barriers.**

" **Open fire! We can't let the infected breach the wall!" Krille heard his Captain say as he opened fire on the infected turian. All around him the sounds of gunfire can be heard turning around he saw the sentries shoot the infected and Krille joined them but the infected just kept coming.**

" **Grenade out!" Krille heard one of the soldiers ground level say. Krille figured the soldier is going throw a grenade threw the closing doors and into the oncoming horde but then he heard screaming coming from ground level. Soon after an explosion knocked him off the top of the wall, he landed with a grunt. Getting his bearings Krille saw that the only door was destroyed.**

 **The sound of flesh being torn to his left caused Krille to look. He saw the infected turian bent over his Captain eating him, Krille let out a gasp which attracted the attention of the turian. Slowly the infected turian turned his head to the left giving him a good at the turian's face. His left mandible was torn off including his upper lips, the flesh around his eye appeared to have been bitten off.**

 **Slowly the turian rose to its feet and started shuffling towards him. Krille quickly drew his side arm and began firing but the kinetic barriers stopped his rounds from reaching his target, finally he managed to drop the shields and landed a head shot right when the infected turian lunged at him. Krille got to his feet and kept his pistol trained on the body, when the infected turian didn't get up Krille turned around to see more of the infected making it through the breach.**

 **Some of the infected caught on fire from the flames but they kept walking. The remaining soldiers were quickly overrun by the infected, Krille didn't want to end up like them so he would do the one thing that no turian should do, run. When Krille turned around he came to face with his Captain or rather what was his Captain, Krille saw that his Captain's throat was missing and a chunk of his face seemed to be bitten off.**

 **Krille took aim but was too late as the Captain lunged at him and knocked him over. His helmet landed sideways on the ground, the camera pointed at Krille. The Infected turian Captain bit into Krille's shoulder, Krille screamed as he tried to get the Captain off him but his struggle only attracted the attention of the infected nearby and soon they swarmed Krille who continued to scream until he died. Soon after Krille's death the infected left the bodies of the turians and walked past the camera.**

 **Shortly after the horde left Krille and the dead turians twitched before rising to their feet and followed the horde.**

 **Footage End**

The Infection soon spread to neighboring cities. Unable to stop the spread of the infection the Council had no choice but to use nuclear weapons to halt the infection. Four cities were destroyed by nuclear fire but the infection was stopped. The incident was labeled as the worst biohazard incident since Raccoon City.

Soon after the disaster a message was broadcasted across the galaxy reveling the people behind the incident.

 **Archive Footage – "Cerberus"**

" **Attention citizens of the galaxy."**

 **A man wearing a white military uniform with black and orange highlights in certain parts of the uniform stepped in front of the camera. It was evident that the man was military from his close crop hair and the scar above his right eye that could only come from having fought in a war. His dark brown hair started to grey at the roots.**

" **The incident that took place on the planet Mider was caused by us." the man paused a moment to let the information sink in. "We released a virus in the populace and watched as the proud asari, turians, salarians were reduced to nothing but savages as they killed their friends." The man's words were laced with venom when he named the alien species.**

 **The man then took a few steps to the right where a soldier wearing the same colors as the man handed him a vial filled with a green liquid. The man then loaded the vial into a syringe gun after he loaded the gun the background lit up as the overhead lights activated. In the center of the room sat a large container that had glass walls, inside were two people an asari and a turian restrained by their hands and feet to a chair on opposite ends of the container.**

" **This is the T-Virus," the man said to the camera holding the syringe gun in front of the camera so people could see the green liquid in the vial. "It was the downfall of Raccoon City a 169 years ago." The man said now holding the syringe gun in both hands looking at the camera. "We've modified it to fit our use. Allow me to show you what it can do."**

 **The man walked away from the camera towards the glass container. Entering the container, the man walked over to the asari and injected her in the neck with the T-Virus. Exiting the container, the man stood outside the container and watched.**

 **The asari began convulsing in her seat, blue blood could be seen flowing from her mouth, nose, and eyes before she slumped over in her seat dead. A few seconds later the asari began twitching, slowly she raised her head her eyes were now milky white. The man gestured to someone off camera and soon the restraints holding the asari and turian released them.**

 **The turian stood behind his chair as the infected asari advanced on him slowly but when she got with five feet of him she lunged at the turian with surprising speed. But the turian side stepped and pushed the asari against the glass wall and ran to the other side of the container. The asari recovered and went after the turian this time at a faster pace, the turian tried to punch the asari only to be grabbed. The asari wasted no time and quickly bit the turian in the neck and tore a chunk of his neck off, the turian tried to push her off but his strength soon left him as he bled out from the neck wound he fell on the ground dead.**

 **The asari feasted on him for a bit before rising to her feet and walking towards the man and attempted to lunge at him only to hit the glass wall. The asari kept trying the reach the man and only succeeded in smearing blue blood on the glass, while the asari kept trying to get through the glass the turian on the ground began to twitch. The turian's right hand began to move and soon the turian rose from the ground and got to its feet. Soon the turian joined the asari in trying to the man on the other side of the glass.**

 **Meanwhile the man just smiled as once again turned to face the camera. "As you can see the virus is quite effective in killing and reanimating the host." The man now walked towards the camera and stopped once he was in front of it again. "It's also effective in attacking and spreading the virus to others."**

 **The man now looked directly into the camera, "history has much to offer us if we only take the time learn it." The man smirked at the camera, "you'd be amazed at how many bioweapons humanity created and used on itself.**

 **The camera zoomed out to show the man along with a large group of people, all of them wearing the same uniform with the same colors as the man. "We are Cerberus and we will use the virus' of the past to repay all the pain and suffering the Council caused us tenfold."**

 **The camera then zoomed in the man again. "'Rome stuffs its ears when it hears thee; the world reviles thee. I can blush for thee no longer, and I have no wish to do so. The howls of Cerberus, though resembling thy music, will be less offensive to me, for I have never been the friend of Cerberus, and I need not be ashamed of his howling.'" The man quoted before the screen faded to black.**

 **Footage end.**

Immediately after the footage was broadcasted to the galaxy the Council questioned Humanity's representative about the nature of the T-Virus and the others that the man in the video hinted at. Humanity supplied the Council with as much data as they could but in the end it was folly. The T-Virus soon began to appear on different planets and in the hands of pirates or anyone willing to buy the virus.

To combat the threat Humanity reestablished the B.S.A.A. with the backing of the Council the B.S.A.A. is now recognized as a military organization. Recruits from every species joined to help combat the threat bioweapons possessed.

A B.S.A.A. facility was built on the planet Mindoir to study the T-Virus in an effort to find a cure. The facility was built on the outskirts of a farming colony.

* * *

 **B.S.A.A. Research and Storage Facility**

 **Basement level C - Lab A**

Professor Mordin Solus stood in front of the holo screen looking at the results of his latest attempt to create a cure for the T-Virus using the data provided from the B.S.A.A.'s archive. Mordin watched in anticipation as his latest cure attacked and neutralize the T-Virus, slowly a smile appeared but quickly disappeared when the T-Virus proved more resilient as it fought back against the cure.

"Virus more resilient than expected," Mordin quickly said to himself while placing his right hand under his chin and started to think of different ways to improve the effects of the cure. Mordin was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the doors to the open but he did hear the footsteps that followed.

"Any progress?" a male voice asked behind Mordin, turning around Mordin saw his assistant David holding two coffee cups in both hands. David gestured to the holo screen with the data on the cure.

Mordin took a deep breath before speaking, "no. Virus more resilient than I initially thought."

"Take a break, professor." David said as he handed one of the coffee cups to Mordin who gladly accepted the cup. "It's tea from Sur'Kesh."

Taking a sip of his coffee David walked over to the holo screen and glanced at the data. "What have you learned so far?" he asked Mordin over his shoulder.

"The virus can jump between species."

David chocked on his coffee when he heard the news. "What?" he turned to face Mordin who sat in a chair and sipped his tea before speaking again.

"Virus would make a poor bioweapon if it didn't infect other species." Mordin said in between sips, "makes is difficult to make a cure that is compatible with all species."

"But it is possible," David once again asked Mordin. "To make a cure?"

Mordin smiled at David, "Of course. Difficult but not impossible." Mordin said before he finished his tea and set the cup down on the desk behind him.

" _Breaking News. A viral outbreak has been reported on the Salarian home world, Sur'Kesh."_

David turned to face the terminal on Mordin's desk and saw that he had an open terminal switched to the news. David saw Mordin watching the news with intent.

" _The B.S.A.A. has set up a quarantine around the infected area and has begun to deploy troops. We're also getting reports that a new virus is responsible for the outbreak."_

David was surprised to hear that a new virus has appeared but he shouldn't be surprised, it was only a matter of time before different virus strains appeared. David glanced at Mordin and saw that the salarian blinked at the news, David thought that Mordin would've at least shown some response even the news showed footage of the quarantined city and of some of the infected. David figured the salarian was just good at hiding his emotions after all he did hear that the salarian is former STG.

Mordin turned off the terminal, rose from his seat and went back to his work on the cure.

"Cerberus is getting bolder in their attacks," David said to Mordin while taking sips of his coffee.

"B.S.A.A. doing all they can to contain the outbreaks," Mordin told David as he continued to work on his latest attempts at a cure. David finished his coffee and set the empty cup on one of the desks before going to help Mordin. When he reached Mordin an explosion could be heard above them, an alarm blared a few seconds after the explosion.

" _Security breach, all security personal to their stations. Lockdown in effect,"_ the B.S.A.A.'s V.I. "Major" told the staff. All of the facility doors were sealed locking the staff inside, outside of vault where all of the T-Virus samples are held large doors emerged from the side walls and sealed the vault and all occupants inside.

 **B.S.A.A. Research and Storage Facility**

 **Main Hall**

Inside of the main hall bodies of the B.S.A.A. security personal laid on the ground in various positions. Twelve batarians walked around the hall checking the bodies and killing any of the survivors. These batarians are different from the others of their species such as they weren't pirates or slavers, each of the batarians wore military gear with the seal of the Batarian Hegemony on their right shoulder. After clearing the main hall one of the batarians removed his helmet and looked at the bodies.

"Status?" the unmasked batarian asked in his native tongue to the batarian on his left.

"We're clear." The batarian replied.

"Have you located the virus samples?"

"Yes, Major. They're located in the basement of the facility."

"Take a team Lieutenant and secure the virus samples." The Major told his subordinate who nodded and started to gather a team before heading down to the lower levels. "Remember Lieutenant, the Hegemony doesn't care for civilian casualties. They only care for the virus samples." The Major told the Lieutenant before he left with his team. "How are we on time?" The Major asked one of the other batarians in his command.

"The slavers have started their run on the colony but they've run into trouble." One of the batarians told the Major after he removed his helmet.

The Major turned to the batarian, "what kind of trouble?"

"There's a small Alliance force stationed at the colony and they're giving the slavers some trouble."

"Can the slavers handle them before the Alliance and B.S.A.A. arrive?"

"Yes sir, they've started to use the B.O.W.'s they bought from Cerberus." The batarian told the Major who then turned to face the sealed entrance. The Major then gestured to two of his men.

"Find the V.I. HUB and disable it. We need the doors open." He told them before they left to find the V.I. station. "We have forty minutes at best before the Alliance and B.S.A.A. arrive. We need to be gone by then." The Major told his men over the comms.

 **B.S.A.A. Research and Storage Facility**

 **Basement Level D – Virus Storage (The Vault)**

Outside of the vault the Lieutenant and his team were setting explosive charges on the door to brute force their way in. Once the charges were set the batarians took cover before detonating the explosive, with the doors taken care of they entered the room and shot everyone in sight even the scientists who surrendered were shot. With the staff taken care of the batarians quickly gathered what T-Virus samples they could and left the room.

What the batarians didn't know was that when they were shooting the staff in the vault that some of their rounds went wide and hit a case full of vials that contained the T-Virus. With the vials shattered the T-Virus leaked onto the table top then into the air, five minutes passed before the bodies of the staff began to twitch and slowly rise to their feet. The reanimated corpses began to walk out of the vault. The airborne virus drifted into the air vents and soon spread throughout the facility.

 **B.S.A.A. Research and Storage Facility**

 **V.I. "Major" HUB**

Jakur entered the V.I. HUB with his teammate, after moving into the room they discovered two engineers who they quickly dispatched. Once the room was secure Jakur went to one of the terminals and began the process of shutting down the V.I.

"How long?" Jakur's teammate asked him before he started pacing back and forth in one spot.

"Depends on the level of security protocols in place." He told his teammate who just continued to pace back and forth in one spot. Figures he would get paired up with the one person in the team who can't sit still and wait.

"We have twenty minutes left. So hurry up," his teammate told him.

"Why don't you go patrol the halls," Jakur told his teammate when his back and forth pacing started to grate his nerves. Thankfully his teammate left the room leaving him to work in peace.

" _Warning, tampering detected in the V.I. HUB. Security personal please respond."_ The V.I. announced over the intercom.

Jakur worked as fast as he could to disable the V.I. but if the B.S.A.A. had something going for them it was that they didn't skimp when it came to best in V.I. security too bad that didn't apply to their security personal, not that the security personal didn't put up a descent fight. Finally, he managed to bypass the security and began the shut-down process.

" _Alert! Bioh…."_

Whatever the V.I. was about to say cut off as the V.I. was successfully shut down. Jakur smiled to himself as he closed the terminal and left the room. Upon exiting the HUB Jakur didn't see his teammate, so he tried to call him over the comms but when he didn't respond he decided to look for him. Jakur once again tried to call his teammate on the comms and once again didn't get a response.

Jakur turned down one of the hallways and saw his teammate standing at the end of the hallway doing nothing with his back to him. "Hey!" Jakur yelled at his teammate who didn't react, sighing Jakur walked over to his teammate. When Jakur reached his teammate he reached out.

 **B.S.A.A. Research and Storage Facility**

 **Basement level C - Lab A**

David sat at his desk waiting for the lockdown to be lifted, looking over to Professor Mordin he saw the professor talking to himself quickly about something he couldn't quite make out. David rose from his seat and walked over to the professor to ask him if he needed help with anything, about halfway the doors to the lab opened without warning.

"Problematic."

David heard his professor say behind him which started him slightly, "What do you mean?" David asked his professor.

"Intruders likely shut down Major. Likely the cause for the lockdown to be lifted." Mordin explained to David who just nodded.

"Should we leave?" David asked turning around to face Mordin who just shook his head.

"No," Mordin quickly replied looking to door in time to see one of the other researchers enter the lab. Only the researcher had blood staining the front of her lab coat, bullet wounds could be seen along with the fact that the female researcher had grey skin and black veins and her eyes lost all color. Both David and Mordin backed up slowly when they saw that the female researcher is infected with the T-Virus.

The researcher quickly lunged at Mordin and David with surprising speed that took both David and Mordin off guard. The infected researcher grabbed David as he was the closest, both the infected researcher and David crashed into the desk before falling to the floor. David struggled to keep the infected researcher from biting half of his face off but he's having a hard time as the infected had ridiculous strength. David was so focused on keeping the infected away that he didn't notice Mordin's omni-blade until it pierced the infected researcher's skull.

David pushed the dead researcher off of him, Mordin was quick to help his assistant off the floor. When Mordin helped David to his feet they heard groaning coming from the direction of the lab doors, turning around both Mordin and David saw four more infected entering the lab the sound of David struggling attracted them. Mordin quickly went for the pistol he kept in his desk just as the four infected lunged at them.

 **B.S.A.A. Research and Storage Facility**

 **Main Hall**

Major Bel'ker once again tried to contact the second team and the two that he sent to disable the V.I. but once again is met with silence. Bel'ker didn't like this they only had fifteen left before they had to rendezvous with the slavers and get off planet but he couldn't make the rendezvous until the second team arrived with the virus samples at least the lockdown was lifted. The sounds of the elevator arriving caught Bel'ker's attention, turning around to face the elevator just in time as the elevator doors opened.

"About time. We're behind schedule." Bel'ker said once the elevator doors opened revealing the second team that Bel'ker sent to retrieve the virus samples except that everyone in the second team is infected. Quickly the group shuffled out of the elevator and began advancing on Bel'ker's team, "take them down!" he ordered.

Gunfire erupted in the main hall of the B.S.A.A. facility as Bel'ker and his team tried to kill their infected teammates but their efforts were in vain as the armors kinetic barriers stopped the bullets from harming them. One of Bel'ker's teammates moved back when one of the infected lunged at him but missed forcing the teammate against a door, suddenly the door opened and arms grabbed the batarian soldier. Screaming caused Bel'ker to look in the direction of the scream just in time to see one of his teammates get grabbed and bitten by the infected that emerged from the stairway door.

Soon screaming could be heard all over the hall, Bel'ker turned around to see the dead security guards rising and attacking his men. Bel'ker panicked and began to shoot wildly at the infected in an attempt to keep them away from him but only succeeded in drawing the attention of every infected in the hall. Realizing that his rifle was doing nothing to the infected Bel'ker grabbed a grenade and primed it, he would use the blast to make his exit from the facility. Bel'ker got ready to toss the grenade when he felt a sharp pain on his lower right leg, looking down he saw that one of the infected had bitten him.

Drawing his sidearm he shot the infected in the head causing the infected to release him. Turning back to the incoming horde Bel'ker threw the grenade into the horde and ran for the exit, he made it outside when he heard the explosion from the grenade, Bel'ker didn't stop to see if any of the infected survived the blast and went running to the extraction site. When he made it to the extraction site he leaned against a tree and tended to the wound on his leg, sealing the bite wound with medi-gel he quickly took a shot of anit-viral medication that the Hegemony issued to his team in the event of being exposed to the T-Virus and waited for his extraction.

* * *

 **Location – Unknown**

 **Cerberus Headquarters**

Jack Harper aka the "Illusive Man" sat in his chair looking at the dying star shift colors from red to orange to blue in the distance, shifting his eyes from the beauty of the dying star to the holo screens in front of him reading the various reports that his agents sent. Harper heard the doors open behind but didn't turn around as he kept reading the reports, the sounds of footsteps echoed in the large room.

"I can see why you enjoy the view," a male voice spoke as the footsteps grew closer. Soon Harper saw a figure in his peripheral to his right.

"It shows that even in death. There is beauty," Harper said not taking his eyes off of the reports.

"Never took you for the poetry type," the man said stepping in front of Harper to better look at the dying star. Harper finished reading the reports and looked up to see his long-time friend, Oleg Petrovskly. Both Harper and Oleg served in the Alliance but in different departments, Oleg served in the Marines while Harper served in the Alliance Intel department and would later become Oleg's handler when both made the jump to Black Ops and quickly became friends.

When Harper expressed his anger toward the Alliance for making peace with the aliens, he was surprised that Oleg and a large number of Alliance personal supported him. So, Harper did what many Cerberus personal consider to be right, he broke away from the Alliance with Oleg and soon after everyone who supported him followed and together they formed Cerberus.

Harper looked at Oleg who had his back to him as Oleg was looking at the dying star. "We've been friends for ten years and you still don't know everything about me." Harper said to Oleg who turned around to face him, Oleg has dark brown hair that it almost appeared black with grey strands starting to appear. He also wore a military uniform that has the rank of General.

"True," Oleg said with a smirk before going back to being serious. Harper always admired that level of serious in Oleg. "The B.O.W.'s we _sold_ to the slavers are preforming admirably," Oleg told Harper who brought the file for the B.O.W. codenamed HUNTER.

"Indeed?"

"Their combat data is exceptional," Oleg said turning back to look at the dying star.

Harper reached into his jacket and withdrew a silver case, opening the case he grabbed a cigarette before closing the case and returning it to his inside jacket pocket. "Then we'll begin production," Harper put the cigarette in his mouth and was about to light it when another light appeared in front of him. Looking up he saw Oleg holding a lighter, after lighting the cigarette Oleg put the lighter away.

Taking a puff of the cigarette before closing the screen on the B.O.W. HUNTER, "there is another project that I have in mind for you." Harper told Oleg while bringing up a larger screen in the center of the large room. Oleg turned around to better see the screen.

"TYRANT," Oleg said to himself as he began to read the file. "Why are you putting me in charge? Surely Miranda would be better qualified to lead this project."

"Miranda has her hands full with the G-Virus." Harper told Oleg before taking another puff of his cigarette. "Besides I can think of no one better to head the project."

"…"

"Surely you can handle the project."

"Of course," Oleg told Harper before walking out of the large room leaving Harper alone. Harper brought up a screen that controlled the IFF for the HUNTER B.O.W. and entered the deactivation codes for the IFF. With the IFF disabled the HUNTER's will now attack anyone in sight.

Closing all of the screens around him before leaning into his chair and crossing his legs, Harper took another puff of his cigarette while looking at the dying star outside the space station.

* * *

 **Mindoir**

 **Farming Colony "Hope"**

Inside one of the housing units in the colony a sixteen-year-old girl is being told to hide in the safe room by her father.

"Dad, I can help." the teenager tried to persuade her father.

"Cheryl… I know you can help." an older man said looking to his daughter who seemed to perk up when he said that she could help. "But you can't this time."

"Why?" the girl asked her father but whatever he was about to say got cut off when banging could be heard at the front door. Soon after claws penetrated the steel door and slashed downward clawing the door in two. The girl's father handed her a pistol and kissed her forehead.

"Because it's a father's job to protect his children from harm." The father told his daughter before pushing her into the safe room and sealing the room.

"Dad!" the girl screamed when she saw the door to the safe room close. Running to the control panel she tried to get the door open but it didn't work as her father shot the control panel on the outside. The sounds of gunfire could be heard through the door along with the sound of a creature roaring in pain but soon the sound of the girl's father screaming in pain filled the small safe room.

"DAD!" the teenage girl screamed as she covered her ears to try and silence the sounds of her father screaming in pain but the sound of banging on the door caused the girl retreat to the far side of the room. The girl aimed the pistol that her father gave her at the door, the banging continued and it seemed that the door might give but it didn't and after a while the banging ceased. When the girl heard the sound of the creature leaving she cried herself to sleep.

The girl didn't know how long she slept for but the sounds of a cutting torch woke her. Looking towards the door she saw a rectangular square being cut into the door when the outline was complete the cutout section was removed.

 **B.S.A.A. TEAM ALPHA**

Captain Olivia Chambers waited for their engineer to finish cutting open the safe room so they could check for survivors. Based on the way the safe room door was clawed to shit and dented meant that some survivors made it, at least she hoped that was the case and that whoever is inside is not already infected. Olivia turned to see two of her squad mates carrying out the bodies of the family that lived in the housing unit.

"Captain."

Olivia turned to her left to see her second in command holding a pair of dog tags in his hand out to her.

"All that's left of the marine next to the safe room." He told her as he handed the tags to her. Olivia took the tags with a heavy heart, if there's one thing she hated about being a B.S.A.A. operative was the grim job that came when she had to report to the Alliance the number of marines who died fighting B.O.W.'s. Turning the tags around so she could see the name.

 **Shepard, Nathaniel**

After reading the name Olivia put Shepard's tags with the others in her vest pouch. After checking to see the progress on the safe room she walked to one of the windows and looked out. Alliance marines and B.S.A.A. soldiers were seen carrying bodies of the dead and infected and sealing them in body bags slated to be studied and destroyed, unfortunately there are more dead than alive.

By the time the Alliance and the B.S.S.A. arrived at Mindoir most of the slavers were already fighting the infected and their own B.O.W.'s who turned on them. So, taking care of the slavers proved difficult with the infected but they managed to get the situation under control but some of the slavers managed to escape. Now the B.S.A.A. was in clean up and rescue mode, this meant the soldiers of the B.S.A.A. searched every house and building for any survivors and infected. That's how Olivia and her team arrived at this housing unit to find two B.O.W.'s and the remains of the family and the safe room.

"We're almost through." The engineer said.

Turning around to see the outline being finished Olivia ordered two of her men to remove the door slowly. Readying her rifle, she gestured for the two soldier to remove the door.

"This is the B.S.A.A. is anyone alive in there." Olivia shouted into the room when the door was partially removed.

"I'm alive."

Olivia heard a lifeless female voice say from inside the safe room. Once the door was fully removed Olivia took point and entered the safe room first. Against the far wall sat a teenage girl holding a pistol and looking at the ground. Olivia lowered her weapon as she approached the teenage girl, when she was a foot in front of the teenager she kneeled down to better see the young girl. The teenage girl's hair is dark red hair and tied into a ponytail with loose strands framing her face, Olivia could see a light splashing of freckles but beyond that she couldn't really see her face. The teenager wore black cargo pants, combat boots, a red t-shirt that matched her hair and a black jacket.

"Are you bitten?" Olivia asked the young girl secretly hoping that she wasn't.

"No," the girl said in a low voice that Olivia almost didn't hear her.

"Let's get out of here and get you checked out by medical." Olivia told the girl before she got to her feet and offered her hand to the teenage girl. "What do you say?"

The teenage girl looked up at Olivia before taking her hand. Olivia smiled when the young girl took her hand and rose to her feet and putting the pistol away inside her jacket. Olivia couldn't help but feel like a big sister again as she led the girl out of the safe room and to the colony square where the medical tent was set up to help any survivors. Olivia elected to wait alongside the young girl inside the medical tent while her team continued to search the colony for any survivors or infected, now and then gunfire could be heard in the distance.

"I hear another survivor has been found," A male voice said. Olivia looked up to see Dr. Mead with a warm smile that she couldn't help but also smile at.

"Yes. We found her near the outskirts of the colony." Olivia told Dr. Mead who nodded before activating his omni-tool and began scanning the teenager for any injuries or traces of the T-Virus.

"A few scrapes and burns here and there but overall you're clear." Dr. Mead told the teenage girl who nodded and to the delight of Olivia. "What's your name? We can call your family."

"Cheryl Shepard." The girl said.

* * *

 **Fifteen Years Later**

 **Citadel – Presidium**

Cheryl woke up before her alarm went off so she rolled over in her bed to turn off the alarm before it off. Swinging her legs off of the bed she went to the bathroom across the hall from her room, arriving in the bathroom she turned on the shower before undressing and stepping into the shower. After her shower Cheryl stepped out of the shower and dried herself off before wrapping the towel around her torso, walking to the mirror she wiped the steam away and looked at herself.

Her red hair extended below her shoulders and dripped still wet from the shower, her green eyes slightly dulled in color but still remained bright green, and her freckles were now visible. Sighing at the image in the mirror Cheryl exited the bathroom and went back to her bedroom to the closet, removing the towel she put on her bra and panties before gathering her clothes for the day. Cheryl chose tan cargo pants with a grey t-shirt and her boots, once she was fully clothed she went to the night stand next to her bed and picked up a pair of dog tags and put them on.

Exiting her bedroom Cheryl went back into the bathroom to grab a rubber band and put her hair into a pony tail. With her hair fixed Cheryl went into the dining room to grab her black hoodie from the couch where she left it and exited her apartment.

Once in the Presidium Cheryl walked through the crowds to the B.S.A.A. Embassy on the first floor next to the Human Embassy. Entering the B.S.A.A. Embassy Cheryl was greeted by the receptionist.

"Hello. How may I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"I'm here to join the B.S.A.A.," Cheryl told the receptionist who nodded and told her to go the end of the hall on the right and enter the first room. Cheryl followed the receptionist's direction and soon she found herself in front of the room that read _**B.S.A.A. Recruitment**_ , taking a deep breath she entered the room.

The room is large and on the far wall is a window that gave a good view of the shopping district and other Embassy's, in the middle of the room sat a large table with two chairs on both sides and a middle age man wearing a B.S.A.A. uniform sat behind the desk with the window at his back. The man gestured for Cheryl to have a seat which she did.

"So you want to join the B.S.A.A.?" The man asked.

"Yes," Cheryl answered without hesitation.

"Why?"

"…"

The man sighed before speaking, "I've seen plenty of people join the B.S.A.A., some do it for revenge. Others to protect the galaxy from bioterror." The man leaned forward in his chair placing his hands on the table, "so which are you?"

Cheryl thought about his words before answering, "I was on Mindoir." She said looking away from the man.

"I'm sorry." The man said with sincerity as Mindoir is considered one of the most devastating acts of bioterror. Out of entire colony only ten survivors made it including two researchers from the nearby B.S.A.A. facility.

"I've seen firsthand the horrors of bioterror," Cheryl told the man while closing her eyes to keep the tears back but some fell. She recalled her aunt and her family killed by the B.O.W.'s, her father sacrificing himself for her. Cheryl pushed the memories back and wiped away the few tears that escaped, slowly she opened her eyes and looked back at the man with a fiery determination. "I want to protect people so they won't know the pain and loss that bioterror brings," she said with a determination that matched her gaze.

The recruiter said nothing as he analyzed the young woman in front of him. She's attractive and has a body that most models would kill for, if anything she could be doing something different than joining the B.S.A.A. but he saw that determination he had when he made the jump from the Alliance to the B.S.A.A.

With a small smile the man brought up a holo screen and began entering basic information, "What's your name?" he asked when he had to enter the name.

"Cheryl Shepard."

When he heard the name he stopped typing to look at the woman again, "thought you would have joined the Alliance like your brother. Continue the tradition."

Cheryl looked away for a second before focusing back on the man across from her. "I think I could do more good in the B.S.A.A. than in the Alliance." She told the man, in truth she was tired of people assuming she would go into the Alliance like her brother.

The man said nothing and entered the name on the file before submitting it to the higher ups for evaluation. "We'll contact you at a later date for your interview," he told Cheryl who thanked him for his time and left the room. Bringing up another window he began the background check on the Cheryl Shepard and found that she went to college back on earth and studied Virology for the past five years and graduated with honors. Shortly after college she moved to the Citadel and procured an apartment with a short term lease.

Closing the window and screen the man rose from his chair and went to the window. _'With her degree she could get a job at any pharmaceutical company in the galaxy. Instead she chooses to join the B.S.A.A.'_ he thought to himself before smiling to himself. "Interesting woman," he said to himself.

 **Four Weeks Later**

Cheryl checked over her apartment once again to make sure that she didn't leave anything of value behind. Once she was certain that nothing was left behind she went to the living room to pick up her duffel bag and left the apartment, making sure to stop by the manager's office to drop off the key to the apartment. Summoning a sky car at the terminal she made her way to the docks and paid the fee after exiting the sky car, walking to the docks she made her way to the B.S.A.A. docks where she was stopped by security.

After showing the I.D that marked her as a recruit to the guards they let her pass and showed her where the other recruits are gathering. Taking a spot with the other recruits Cheryl looked at some of the other recruits and saw every species among the recruits, _'guess the threat of bioterror effects everyone'_ Cheryl thought to herself.

"Now boarding," the V.I. said over the intercom.

After the announcement everyone made their way up to the loading ramp and into the awaiting B.S.A.A. frigate. Once everyone settled into their seats and stored their things the frigate departed the Citadel and made their way to the Relay where they went into FTL to the B.S.A.A. training facility.

 **Six Months Later**

"Congratulations to the many recruits that have made it."

Cheryl stood at attention with her fellow graduates as she listened to the speech being given by the instructor.

"From here you are now soldiers of the B.S.A.A., congratulations to everyone."

When the instructor finished his speech he stood at attention and saluted, Cheryl and everyone else returned the salute. After the ceremony the instructor dismissed everyone to celebrate before getting their assignments. Cheryl walked back to the barracks to rest instead of going out and celebrating like the other graduates, on the way she ran into her friends who tried to get her to go out with them and celebrate but she refused and went back to the barracks.

Arriving in the barracks Cheryl walked to her bunk and sat down on the bed, sighing to herself she removed her jacket and her boots before lying down to get some rest. Cheryl dreamed of the moment her father pushed her into the safe room all those years ago then the dreamed shifted to her pointing a gun at her father who slowly shuffled towards her. The dream ended with Cheryl pulling the trigger.

Cheryl slowly opened her eyes, after rubbing her eyes she swung her legs over the edge of bed and sat up. Holding her head in her hands Cheryl vividly remembered the dream, shaking the images away she reached for her father's dog tags that she always kept on her person and held them tightly that they left an impression on her palm. Cheryl and her father went to Mindoir so they could visit her aunt who moved her family to the farming colony to start a life, then the pirates came with their pet B.O.W.'s and started to gather the young and kill those they could not take.

Cheryl's father led her to her aunt's house to leave her there so he could fight with his unit. But, when they arrived the found her aunt eating her family, her father killed his sister and her family. That's where everything went to hell for the lack of a better word, the slavers B.O.W.'s went wild and started attacking anyone in sight.

Cheryl opened her hand holding her father's dog tags and smiled sadly, closing her hand again.

"I love you dad." Cheryl whispered quietly to herself.

* * *

Cheryl walked through the crowds of Arcturus station to get to her destination, the B.S.A.A. frigate _Kennedy_. After asking for directions she finally arrived at her destination but the frigate has yet to arrive so Cheryl decided to occupy her time by going to the small café that is popular with the Alliance. After getting her coffee Cheryl tried to find an empty spot to sit but didn't find any, so she exited the small café and found an empty bench that faced the docks so she could see the ships coming and going. Placing her duffel bag on the ground next to her before sitting down and taking sips of her coffee.

" _Breaking News. Pirates have attacked Elysium."_

Cheryl almost chocked on her coffee when she heard the announcement over the station intercom. Cheryl rose from her seat, forgetting about her coffee, her duffel bag, and ran to the station's atrium where people have started to gather in front of the large screen in the center.

The footage on the screen showed burning buildings and Alliance personal engaging with pirate forces in the streets. From what Cheryl saw the pirates didn't have any B.O.W.'s which should make things easier for the Alliance personal.

" _Alliance personal are currently fighting the pirate forces both in the air and on the ground."_

The reporter said to the camera while gunfire went off behind her, then the footage was cut off when an Alliance fighter crashed into the camera. Whispers and murmurs could be heard throughout the atrium after the footage was cut off.

" _Attention all Alliance personal. Report to your ships."_ The station intercom ordered, immediately after the announcement every Alliance personal in the atrium started to leave to head back to their ships leaving Cheryl alone in the atrium with the station personal.

"Hey didn't you hear the announcement."

Cheryl turned around to see a security guard walking towards her. "Show me your credentials," he said to her when he got near her. Cheryl showed her credentials to the guard who immediately apologized to her and left, shortly after leaving Cheryl heard the announcement that the _Kennedy_ has arrived. Going back to the bench she previously sat on Cheryl retrieved her things and went to board the frigate as soon as the docking procedure was complete.

Upon entering the _Kennedy_ Cheryl was greeted by one of the crewman who led her to the crew quarters. Once the crewman showed Cheryl her bunk he left her to unpack her things.

"How's it going?" a female voice asked. Turning around Cheryl saw an asari with a towel wrapped around her torso.

"Pretty good, thanks." Cheryl said as she went back to unpacking and storing her things.

"I take it you're the new recruit being assigned to my squad." The asari said to Cheryl. Once again turning around Cheryl saw that the asari is now fully dressed in her B.S.A.A. uniform, the two bars on the shoulder reveled her to be Captain.

"Yes, ma'am. Cheryl Shepard." Cheryl said to the asari while saluting.

"At ease," the asari said while smiling at Cheryl. "I'm Tevka," she said offering her hand. Cheryl shook Tevka's hand feeling good that she didn't act like an ass in front of her C.O., "from your file it says that you have a degree in virology."

"That's right," Cheryl said releasing Tevka's hand.

"So why join us grunts in the trenches when you could be in a lab?" Tevka asked crossing her arms.

Cheryl sighed at the question as it is the most common one asked of her. "I think I could do more good in the front lines than stuck in a lab."

"So why the degree?"

"A friend suggested it for me to keep me from the front lines."

"And here you are," Tevka said.

"Yeah."

Before Tevka could ask what the friends name is the intercom came to life saying that she had and her squad needed to report to the briefing room. "Duty calls," Tevka said uncrossing her arms and leaving the crew quarters with Cheryl in tow. Arriving the briefing room Tevka saw three other squads in the room, Tevka and Cheryl took a seat next to her squad. "This is Cheryl Shepard. She being assigned to our squad," Tevka introduced Cheryl to the squad.

Cheryl looked at her squad mates and is welcomed by a turian, krogan, salarian, and another human. Cheryl said hello to each of them just in time as the door to the briefing room opened and the Captain of the _Kennedy_ entered the room. Everyone in the room stood and attention and saluted the Captain.

"Be seated," the Captain told them before activating a screen behind him. "I'm sure all of you are aware that forty minutes ago Elysium was attacked." The Captain said and based off the silence in the room proved his hunch correct, "well I've received word from the Alliance that the attack was successfully repelled. Apparently a lieutenant rallied the militia and managed to hold the attacking force back long enough for reinforcements to arrive and drive back the invaders."

"What's the soldier's name?" The krogan next to Cheryl asked.

"John Shepard."

The Krogan and pretty much anyone next to Cheryl looked to her for an explanation but she just shook her head.

"Now back to the reason why all of you are," the Captain told everyone in the room. The screen behind him came to life displaying a man in his forties wearing a business suit with the Cerberus logo pin over his heart. "This is Christopher Miller. He's a merchant of death, he sells virus' to anyone willing to buy and use them. He also sells B.O.W.'s such as the HUNTER and LICKER classes." The image then changed to show Omega, the pirate space station under the control of Aria. "Miller will be overseeing a business deal in the lower section of Omega." The image once again changed to show a warehouse, "main objective is to capture Miller and his client."

The screen disappeared as the Captain looked at everyone in the room. "Any questions?"

"What about Aria?" one of the soldiers in the room asked.

"Aria has given us permission to operate on her station." The Captain said, "if anything she's pissed that she isn't getting a cut from the deal so she came to us with the information on Miller and the deal location."

"Can we trust her?"

"I trust Aria and her ilk 'bout as far as I can piss. Which isn't too far," the Captain said causing everyone in the room to laugh. The Captain then looked to everyone in the room with a serious expression, "Miller's capture could mean the end of Cerberus and their experiments. We arrive at Omega in two hours, good luck."

With that everyone in the room saluted the Captain before leaving the briefing room and started to make their way to the armory.

"So is John your brother?" Tevka asked Cheryl as she put on her Ajax Armor.

"Yeah," Cheryl answered as she put on the armor gauntlets before moving to put on the grieves. After making sure that her gauntlets and grieves are secure Cheryl moved to put on her vest.

"Here," a voice said behind Cheryl when she had trouble getting the clasps secure. Cheryl felt a tap on her shoulder turning around she saw the other human in the squad besides her. He had blonde hair cut short, blue eyes, and a small scar on his upper lip, Cheryl noticed that he also wore Ajax Armor except his left shoulder is bare. "I'm Peter," he said holding out his hand.

Cheryl shook his hand, "Cheryl." She said to Peter who smiled warmly at her before letting her hand go.

"Maybe now the rest of the squad will lay off the rookie jokes." Peter said.

"Not likely," the turian said coming up behind Peter and hitting his back lightly as he passed by him to the armory.

"Come on," Peter said trailing after the turian to the armory. Cheryl smirked at the scene before heading to the armory.

* * *

The operation to capture Miller turned out to be a trap set by Cerberus. Upon arriving at the deal location Miller unleashed the Las Plagas parasite on the station and on the B.S.A.A. teams sent to capture him. Within two hours the station was infected, the only survivors of the B.S.A.A. teams were Cheryl and Peter who called in the outbreak but was meant with silence from the _Kennedy._

Investigation revealed the _Kennedy_ was destroyed by a Cerberus cruiser sent to retrieve Miller.

Realizing that in order to halt the spread of infection the station had to be destroyed, Cheryl and Peter fought their way to Omega's reactor. General Petrovsky deployed the B.O.W. TYRANT to stop Cheryl and Peter, after a long fight with the TYRANT in the reactor room both Cheryl and Peter managed to knock TYRANT off of the platform and into the core only for TYRANT to come back.

 **Helmet Cam Footage – Cheryl Shepard**

" **TYRANT"**

 **Cheryl walked over to the edge of the platform and looked over the edge and into the core hoping to see the B.O.W. that had been chasing them fry but she couldn't see anything.**

" **Hope the fucker is dead this time," Peter said also peeking over the edge. Cheryl hoped so too after killing the B.O.W. earlier only for him to come back twice as strong was not an experience she wanted a repeat of. "Let's go," Peter said walking to the control room, Cheryl joined him when they heard an inhuman roar behind them.**

 **Turning around they saw that the B.O.W. was back except it was different. Its black overcoat is now gone, both of its hands now morphed into large claws that looked capable of tearing through steel and flesh, in the center of its chest is a large pulsating heart with large veins protruding out of its skin, and it seemed to have grown taller as it now towered over Cheryl and Peter.**

" **What does it take to kill you!" Peter shouted as he and Cheryl raised their rifles at the transformed creature. The creature slowly walked towards them, the steel grates bending inwards under the creature's weight. Then creature ran towards Cheryl and Peter as they opened fire on the creature but it proved ineffective as the creature kept charging them. Dodging out of the way the creature ran past them and into the wall, "I'll lure him away. You get to the control room." Peter said to Cheryl who looked at him shocked.**

" **No I'll…"**

" **There's no time." Peter cut off Cheryl as the creature once again started to charge them, pushing Cheryl out of the way Peter shot at the creature to get its attention which worked as it turned to face him. "Over here ugly," Peter yelled before turning around to run with the creature behind him.**

With Peter distracting TYRANT Cheryl entered the control room and started to procedure to overload the reactor core, before she could enter the override Aria stopped her.

 **Helmet Cam Footage – Cheryl Shepard**

" **Aria"**

 **Cheryl was just about to enter the override when a gunshot came from behind her, drawing her own pistol Cheryl turned around to come face to face with Aria pointing a gun at her. From what Cheryl saw it was clear that Aria had been fighting the infected, her jacket was torn in certain places and covered in the blood of different species.**

" **I don't take kindly to anyone trying to destroy my station." Aria stated aiming her pistol at Cheryl's head.**

" **The station is lost. Any attempts to reclaim it will only lead to more lives lost." Cheryl told Aria, "you know this Aria."**

" **Lives can be bought."**

" **So, you're willing to take on an entire station full of infected?" Cheryl asked Aria who didn't respond.**

" **How long?" Aria asked still keeping her weapon trained on Cheryl's head.**

" **Thirty minutes. Should be plenty of time for the those who aren't infected." Cheryl told Aria who just nodded and slowly lowered her weapon, Cheryl did the same but only after Aria lowered hers first. Aria then turned around to leave the control room.**

 **Before reaching the exit Aria turned around. "There's a shuttle docked near Afterlife that you and your boyfriend can use." She told Cheryl before leaving the room, "consider this the only favor you get from me." Cheryl heard Aria say as the door closed.**

Cheryl activated the override for the reactor core and the countdown began. Cheryl found Peter just in time as the TYRANT knocked him into the wall and was just about to kill him when Cheryl distracted the TYRANT from delivering the finishing blow. Cheryl was contacted by Peter via the radio and was told that he managed to override the safety feature for a bulkhead that's near his location.

So Cheryl lead TRYANT to the large bulkhead that Peter specified, once Cheryl gave him the signal that TYRANT is in position Peter activated the bulkhead doors. TYRANT was crushed by the large bulkhead doors, with TYRANT taken care of Cheryl ran back to Peter and found him clutching his right leg which was broken when he was thrown against the wall.

Giving him support Cheryl and Peter made it to the shuttle that Aria told Cheryl about. The two escaped Omega just in time to see the station explode, together Cheryl and Peter traveled back to Arcturus via a Mass Relay. Both Cheryl and Peter were debriefed by the B.S.A.A. after Peter was discharged from the hospital, after the debriefing Cheryl and Peter were given leave.

Cheryl and Peter served together in different squads and quickly became fast friends, soon the friendship between the two became romantic when both expressed their feelings for each other. Shortly after the two started dating they were given operative status within the B.S.A.A. similar to the Spectres, B.S.A.A. operatives are the elite. Cheryl and Peter quickly proved themselves to being very capable of handling any investigations thrown their way, currently they are the best operatives within the B.S.A.A.

Cheryl and Peter were married two years after the Omega Incident and have a three-year-old daughter, Natalia Shepard. Currently Cheryl and Peter live on earth.

* * *

Cheryl woke up when she heard her alarm blare to life, turning over she shut off the alarm and got out of bed. Cheryl looked down at the bed and saw her husband still sleeping even though the alarm went off, shaking her head Cheryl went to the bathroom to take a shower. Halfway through her shower Cheryl was joined by her husband who decided that he also needed a shower.

After their joint shower Cheryl and Peter got dressed, Cheryl went to the kitchen to make coffee while Peter went to wake up their daughter. Cheryl smiled at the sight of her husband carrying their daughter who is rubbing her eyes in an effort to wake up, Natalia has her dark red hair while she has Peter's blue eyes. During breakfast Cheryl received a call from the B.S.A.A. saying that they have another op for her and Peter, after breakfast Cheryl told Natalia to pack a bag. Cheryl and Peter would leave Natalia with his sister who also lived on earth and worked as a nurse whenever they have an op.

After dropping Natalia off with Peter's sister, Cheryl and Peter went to the Alliance docks where they boarded the B.S.A.A. cruiser waiting for them. Once onboard they went to the briefing room where the Captain is already waiting for them.

"Welcome, thank you for coming." The Captain told them when they entered the room. "Three hours ago we received intel that Miranda Lawson was seen passing through security on Noveria."

"Who's the source?" Cheryl asked, they could never be too careful as sometimes the tips turn out to be traps.

"An investigator hired by the board of directors for Noveria. Gianna Parasini."

"How reliable?" Peter asked.

"Parasini sent us this image," the Captain said bringing up his omni-tool to display a photo of Miranda Lawson. Miranda wore her standard cat suit that showed the curves of her body and left little to the imagination, over her left breast is the Cerberus logo.

"Noveria prides itself on discretion. Why give us the intel on Miranda?" Peter asked sitting down on one of the many empty chairs in the room.

"Turns out one of the board members has a conscience and instructed Parasini to contact us with the information." The Captain explained to Cheryl and Peter, "apparently Cerberus has a research facility at Peak 17."

"Orders?" Cheryl asked.

"Investigate Peak 17 and apprehend Miranda Lawson." The Captain said closing his omni-tool, "Gianna Parasini is going to meet you at the docking bay and vouch for you so you can get in. A shuttle is being prepped for you in hanger bay."

With that Cheryl and Peter saluted the Captain and started to make their way to the armory to get ready.

* * *

 **The Normandy**

Lieutenant Commander John Shepard walked to the cockpit of the Normandy to make sure that Joker doesn't piss off Noveria control and get them shot down. John is currently investigating Noveria for any traces of Matriarch Benezia, after getting Liara off of Therum John decided to investigate Noveria next.

"Noveria control come in."

John heard Joker when he made it to the cockpit, coming to a stop behind the pilot's seat John looked down at Joker who just shrugged.

"Noveria control, we have a council spectre onboard. Requesting clearance to land," Joker said over the comms but was met with silence. Turning in his seat Joker looked to John, "that's weird. Even if there is a power failure the backup systems should still be functioning."

"Is there a distress beacon active?" John asked Joker who immediately began checking.

"No, there's nothing." Joker said, "creepy."

John exhaled slowly looking out of the window to the planet below them, he has a bad feeling about this but he needed to find Benezia as she might have info on Saren and his plans. "Take us down Joker," John told Joker who simply nodded and muttered about how he has a bad feeling and John couldn't help but agree.

John waited in the airlock checking over his gear as he waited for Ashley and Liara to arrive. Both Ashley and Liara arrived in time as Joker informed them that they had docked.

"Alright we don't know what we're expecting so stay sharp." John told Ashley and Liara.

"You sure it's wise to bring a civilian if that's the case, skipper?" Ashley asked while glancing at Liara who shuffled side to side clearly nervous.

"I agree with Chief William's in this case Shepard." Liara told John.

"You'll be fine. Stay focused and stay near us in case of a firefight." John reassured/told Liara who nodded and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

John pressed the open button for the airlock causing the doors to open with a hiss. John stepped out of the Normandy first when he didn't encounter any threats he gestured for Ashley and Liara to follow. John is thankful that the power is still online but that didn't help calm his nerves when he saw nobody in sight to greet them, he would've expected at least a security escort.

"Skipper, look." Ashley said, turning to face Ashley John saw that she is pointing to a shuttle docked in the bay next to the Normandy. B.S.A.A. is written on the hull of the shuttle which immediately set John on edge as the only time the B.S.A.A. are called in is during an outbreak.

"Everyone stay sharp," John told his teammates. "If the B.S.A.A. are here then that means a possible outbreak."

Entering the security station only seemed to worsen the situation as John and his team found evidence of gunfire and a struggle. Drawing their weapons, the team slowly advanced making sure to keep alert for any threats it didn't help that the lights were flicking. John noticed that the security drones were not facing them but rather they are facing away from them.

"Why are the turrets facing the wrong way?" Liara asked nervously while she tightened her grip on the pistol. She had heard of the different kinds of virus' that Cerberus used and didn't want to meet any of the infected.

"They trying to keep something from escaping?" Ashley asked before going to check the security office.

"I don't know," John answered.

"Got a body."

John turned to face Ashley leaning over the counter for the security office. Making his way towards her, standing next to her John leaned over the counter and saw a female security officer leaning against the wall with a pistol in her hand, blood splatter on the wall suggested that she shot herself.

"Guess she didn't want to turn." Ashley said sadly, truthfully if she was infected she would take a bullet rather then turn.

"Maybe we should head back to the ship and call the B.S.A.A." Liara suggested to John who looked at her.

"By the time they get here Benezia could already be gone." John told Liara before looking at Ashley, "stay sharp and watch your six. We should be fine."

Ashley and Liara nodded but both were nervous and on edge but they would follow Shepard's lead.

"Normandy, come in." John said over the comms.

" _Normandy here."_

"We have a possible biohazard here. Lock down the ship."

" _Crap. Alright, we'll sit tight until you arrive."_

John lead his team pass the sentry turrets which didn't react to them to the elevator which appeared to be disabled. Activating the emergency ladder, John and his team climbed the ladder until they came to the top. Arriving at the main floor John saw that the lights were shut off and the emergency lights on, the emergency lights bathed the main floor in red light in certain places leaving the rest of the large hall dark giving it a very eerie feel.

Looking at the large room John couldn't help but feel like he should have taken suggestion and go back to the Normandy but they already came this far, so he activated the light on his rifle. Seeing a sign that pointed to the administrator's office John lead the way while checking his surroundings, so far they haven't seen any signs of survivors or infected which made the situation even creepier.

Suddenly the sound of clinking could be heard throughout the hall, turning around quickly both John and Ashley pointed their weapons at Liara who flinched at the light being shined in her face.

"Sorry…" Liara quietly said looking ashamed at having accidently kicked a bottle. Soon groaning could be heard, shining their lights towards the sounds of groaning they saw a salarian emerging from the administrator's office closely followed by four security guards, all of them are clearly infected.

"Open fire," John ordered pulling the trigger on his rifle. He wasn't going to take any chances with the infected, the group opened fire on the infected. The salarian went down easily enough but the security guards proved more difficult as their armor kinetic barriers prevented stopped the rounds from hitting them, finally the shields gave out under constant fire allowing Shepard and his team to dispatch them.

"That wasn't so tough," Ashley said while waiting for her rifle to cool down. Shepard was just about to agree when he saw all five of the infected rising back to their feet.

"Pull back!" John shouted to his teammates as the infected shuffled towards them. Turning around John saw movement further down the hall, shining his light he saw a large group of infected heading towards them, far too many to fight. Looking in the direction of the elevator John saw the more infected blocking the path, quickly searching for an exit John saw a clear path to the garage.

"On me," John yelled as he started running towards garage with Ashley and Liara right behind him. Finally making it to the hallway that led the garage John and his turned the corner and quickly raised their hands to block out the light that shown in their faces.

"Get down!" they heard a female shout at them and they complied as they knelt down just in time for their unknown savior to open fire on the infected that turned the corner.

"Grenade out," they heard another voice say only this one sounded male. Soon they heard an explosion behind them.

"Get off your ass and on your feet." The female commanded them.

Looking up they saw a man and a woman wearing Ajax Armor with the B.S.A.A. emblem on their shoulders.

"John…" the female said in a surprised tone.

John getting a good look at the female for the first time quickly recognized his younger sister that he hadn't seen for ten years.

"Cheryl."

* * *

 **A/N: I never intended this to be long but now I'm kind of glad it is. I was able to squeeze a little more of the story in, some parts of this feels a little rushed and that's my fault, so my bad. Also with the batarian Major I never explained what happened to him and his fate his actually up for you to decide, did he bring the infection back the Hegemony or did the pirates kill when because he was infected? Who knows.**

 **I don't know if I did a good job of getting that after action report vibe in the story but I can hope.**

 **The Cerberus quote is by Henryk Sienkiewicz**

 **Hope you enjoyed the story.**


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